Whilst Manchester United lag behind their top six Premier League rivals in terms of Belgian players in their first team, they might be set to take a lead in securing the next generation of superstars.

18 year old Adnan Januzaj has been tipped to feature in their last few Premier League games, and they could be set to raid Anderlecht again for David Henen, who has been tipped as one of the most promising youngsters in Europe.

The 17 year has said he could have gone to United last year, but opted to sign a professional deal at Anderlecht in the hope of breaking into their first team. However a regular senior place has not materialised at the Belgian club, who might be prepared to cash in on the youngster with Benfica and Inter joining Manchester United in monitoring his progress.

Despite his youth and inexperience, Henen is already rated at around £3.5million. Standing 1.85m tall, he has the physical qualities to match his technical brilliance, and Henen has been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Frederic Kanoute by his coaches in Belgium. One coach at Standard Liege described Henen as the kind of player who only comes about every 20 or 30 years.

Such high praise, along with impressive performances in youth competitions, has led to plenty of interest in signing the prospect, and although Manchester United will always be a huge attraction for any player, there is a chance Benfica or Inter could prevail in a transfer battle if they are prepared to give Henen a faster route into the first team.

If United can demonstrate the same opportunities exist at Old Trafford by giving Januzaj a chance to impress over the next few weeks they might become an even more tempting option for Henen.

Nick Harris

I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.